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Continuing the Windows 8 vision with Windows 8.1

blogs.windows.com

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Re: Continuing the Windows 8 vision with Windows 8.1

#81

Post by russellsprouts »

potatolicious wrote: post #36
Tomdarkness wrote: post #18

For me, personally, none of these changes interest me, perhaps with the exception of IE11. I've had Windows 8 installed on my desktop PC since it came out as I took advantage of their cheap upgrade offer from Windows 7 (I'd not of paid full price for it). So here are my thoughts on the improvements in Windows 8.1 as someone who uses it on a desktop, with a keyboard and mouse. Personalization: The only time I ever see…

> "I don't get it, they seem to be ignoring their whole previous customer base; those who used Windows on their non-touch desktops and laptops." This is what frustrates me also. I've had Windows 8 installed since (almost) day one on my desktop. I also have a Surface (that hasn't been touched in months, oops). MS was accused for years of advertising Windows' touch capabilities without actually putting any real thought…

> No, seriously. I've met people who used Win8 regularly who didn't know that each app had a bottom bar - and how could they, there's zero discoverability around it, even though critical app functionality is often contained in that bar. (It's Windows+Z btw, that or a magical incantation of mouse movements).

If by magical incantation of mouse movements, you mean a right click?

Re: Continuing the Windows 8 vision with Windows 8.1

#82

Post by mikecane »

NZ_Matt wrote: post #69
mikecane wrote: post #64

This might help but I think everyone is missing one of the reasons why desktop sales have tanked: Their screens. People who are using tablets don't want to look at grainy big screens. These screens look blurry. Stop in any store and check out the all-in-one Win 8 touch desktops. Their screens are awful. And yes blah blah blah higher-res NON-touchscreen with mouse -- but going back to a mouse after touch? That's anoth…

Does the average person buying a laptop from Bestbuy really care that much about screen resolution? The longer lifespans of PCs and laptops combined with the popularity of smartphones and iPads is a more likely reason for the drop off in sales.

>>>Does the average person buying a laptop from Bestbuy really care that much about screen resolution?

I said desktop. People sit further away from laptop screens and at a totally different angle. Win 8 emphasizes touch, and all the AIO touchscreen desktop screens I've seen are too grainy to look at compared to tablet screens. Even if the pixel count is the same as a laptop, the pixels, obviously, are a hell of a lot larger.

Re: Continuing the Windows 8 vision with Windows 8.1

#83

Post by talmand »

leviathant wrote: post #57
talmand wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree, restoring a small feature (that doesn't prevent you from using the product the way you like) that has been requested by a large number of customers and may get them to like the product better is a definite step in the wrong direction.

By jove, I detect a note of sarcasm in your reply! You seem to have command of a wealth of anecdotes - why do people request this feature? Is it because they're confused, or does it have functionality that is lost in the start screen? While it may be physically small on screen, is not an insignificant change in functionality. Really, why stop there - let's bring back the Program Manager!

A note of sarcasm? I thought I was being quite blatant about it.

Why does it matter why they want it if enough people request it? It was removed and the response was to ask for it back. It's not like new functionality is being requested. It's a feature that has been a part of Windows for several generations of the product. There seems to have been little or no benefit in its removal. If the change confuses the customer, then it's likely a mistake. If the change removes or hides expected functionality, then it's likely a mistake.

Considering that people have been using commercial and free utilities to restore the functionality, it doesn't seem a significant thing to put it back. Microsoft could just bundle one of them with an install of Win8 and do nothing at all.

Finally, if enough people request a feature such as Program Manager, you're darn tootin' you should consider implementing it. The biggest failure of Microsoft concerning Win8 is the simple fact that they decided to ignore user feedback it was getting during the beta phase.

Re: Continuing the Windows 8 vision with Windows 8.1

#84

Post by talmand »

alan_cx wrote: post #55
talmand wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, people who desire the newest, latest, whizzy thing is a niche market. Most people simply want something that works.

Not with kids, no way. "People", maybe. Think fashion.

Kids are "people" too. I guarantee if you hand them a new, shiny electronic toy that is total crap then it won't be long before they want something different.

Re: Continuing the Windows 8 vision with Windows 8.1

#85

Post by kabdib »

bornhuetter wrote: post #63
kabdib wrote: post #50

There's a lot of nice work under the hood in Win8. It's too bad the internal politics completely submerged it. A simple "Sorry, we screwed up" would be nice to hear, rather than the "Advancing forward into the bright future, we added a Start Button^H^H^H^H^H^H Tip" Let's put it another way: The moment that I hear the next version of Visual Studio /requires/ Win8 or its ilk to run, I'm looking hard at moving everythin…

I don't think they particularly have screwed up. Sure, removing the start button was a bad idea, but it's been blown way out of proportion. It was pretty obvious that the media and a lot of users were going to hate Windows 8 regardless of how good or bad it was, so Microsoft have to just keep pushing with the marketingspeak/bullshit. To "admit failure" would be to play into the hands of those trying to paint Windows…

I don't want to move to Linux yet because (A) the development environments for C++ are still way better on Windows, and (B) it's a pain in the ass to move everything else.

Once (A) is gone, it's a powerful incentive to look seriously at Windows as a going concern.

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